Intermediate difficulty
Easthaven
A Westcliff variant that deals a fresh row across every column when you stall, and admits only Kings to a space.
- One-Deck Games
- Four-Suit Games
- Klondike Games
- Mobile-Friendly Games
- Tableau Builders
- Foundation-Building Games
| Decks | One deck |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 10 min |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| How much skill matters | Medium |
| How much the shuffle matters | Medium |
| Family | Klondike family |
There is no playable version of Easthaven on this site yet — this page covers its rules and strategy. The game suits a touchscreen well, so it is a good candidate once a build exists.
About Easthaven
Easthaven takes Westcliff's flat three-row layout and makes it stricter in the two places that matter. When you stall, the stock deals a fresh row across every column, burying whatever you had just arranged. And a column you empty will only take a King.
That combination gives it a rhythm much closer to Spider than to Klondike: you work the tableau, stall, get buried, and work it again. It is frequently described as a gentle first game, and it is not really — the forced deal in particular punishes leaving the tableau untidy, which is a habit rather than a rule and takes a while to learn.
How to play
The base layout is Westcliff's — three rows of seven, the last face up — and the building is the same, down in alternating colours with foundations climbing each suit from Ace. Two rules differ, and both tighten the game. When you run out of moves, a fresh row is dealt across every column, landing on top of whatever you had arranged. And an emptied column will only accept a King, where Westcliff takes any card.
Strategy
The forced row deal is the thing to plan around: everything you leave loose gets covered, so tidy up before you stall rather than after. Because only Kings fill spaces, clearing a column is not automatically progress — hold the clearance until you have a King to occupy it, or you have simply lost a column's worth of room. Treat it as the tighter sibling of Westcliff rather than the beginner's game it is sometimes billed as; the two rule changes both cut against you.
What works
- Forced row deals give it a Spider-like rhythm in a smaller game
- Shallow three-card columns keep face-down cards reachable
- Familiar Klondike-family building rules
What to know
- Forced deals bury work you have just done
- Only Kings may fill an emptied column
- Often mislabelled a beginner's game when it is stricter than Westcliff
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Easthaven use?
- Easthaven is played with a single standard deck.
- Is Easthaven good for beginners?
- Easthaven is generally better suited to players who already know the basics of solitaire, as it involves more planning than a typical beginner game.
- Is Easthaven based more on luck or strategy?
- Easthaven involves a mix of the initial deal and the decisions you make along the way.
Others in this family
- Double Klondike
Klondike scaled up to two decks and nine tableau columns for a longer, more complex game.
- Harp
A nine-column two-deck Klondike with three redeals, but only one card at a time unless a King leads the group.
- Klondike
The best-known solitaire game: build tableau columns down in alternating colors and move cards up to four suit foundations.
- Klondike (Draw Three)
The stricter Klondike variant: the stock deals three cards at a time, and only the top card is playable.
- Thumb and Pouch
A more forgiving Klondike where cards build down onto any suit except their own, and any card can fill a space.
- Westcliff
Three rows of seven and one pass through the stock, but any card at all may take an empty column.
- Whitehead
A Klondike variant dealt entirely face-up, where tableau sequences build by same color instead of alternating color.